


Just Next Door

by TracyLorde



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Construction Foreman Bellamy, Doctor Clarke, F/M, Neighbors, Single Parent Clarke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 22:51:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12095169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TracyLorde/pseuds/TracyLorde
Summary: Clarke and her neighbors are curious to see how it goes when someone finally tries to flip the worst house on the block. Bellamy's crew is pretty sure he's not going to end up flipping it after all.





	Just Next Door

**Author's Note:**

> “Love thy neighbor-and if he happens to be tall, debonair, and devastating, it will be that much easier.” Mae West
> 
> More characters and tags will be added as I add more chapters! Thanks for reading!

The hydrangea bush proved to be the tipping point for Clarke. Up until that point, she’d been only mildly annoyed by the construction next door. The small crew been working there for about a week now, and in their defense they had kept the noisy work to regular business hours. They were, after all, trying to turn the worst house on the block into something better. But as soon as her property was in play, Clarke had to fight back.

She had been sitting in the kitchen, having coffee with Raven and looking over some documents for work while Madi washed up from breakfast. All the windows were open to let the cool breeze flow through the house, despite the intermittent hum of saws and drills from next door.

“Hey mom,” Madi called from the sink, “You might want to see this—I think one of those guys next door is going to dig up our yard.”

Clarke’s head whipped up from the pile of paperwork in front of her. “They’re in the backyard?” She and Raven hopped up from the table and met Madi at the window.

The crew weren’t in the backyard, but rather in the side yard where Clarke’s hydrangea bushes butted up against the edge of the adjacent property. Two of them, a blond woman and a dark haired man, were clearing bags of trash and debris off the back porch. Two taller men were much closer to her view, in process of digging up one of Clarke’s hydrangea bushes.

“They can’t be serious,” exclaimed Clarke, setting her cup of coffee by the sink. Raven and Madi exchanged a slightly amused look but Clarke didn't notice as she headed for the side door and out into the yard.

Neither of the contractors realized Clarke was heading straight towards them until it was too late. The taller of the two men was crouching next to the nearest hydrangea, examining the root system, his dark curly hair obscuring his face from view. His bearded companion nudged him apprehensively as she approached. The curly haired man looked amused as he stood up and took her in.

“Hi, what in the hell do you think you're doing?” Clarke asked in a measured tone.

The bearded man crossed his arms, but the taller man just raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Just a little gardening, nothing to worry about.” He pulled his right hand from its glove and extended it to her. “Hi, I’m—“

Clarke shook her head and took a step forward, cutting him off. “No, sorry, listen. You’re in my yard right now. I live here,” she pointed at the house behind her, “and my property line extends all the way to that boulder. Which you can see, is on the other side of these hydrangeas. So I’m going to have to ask you to please stay on the property you've been hired to renovate.”

Their reactions surprised her, to say the least. She had expected either a contrite apology or something of a fight. Neither of them expressed anything similar to that. The taller curly haired man was still wearing the most infuriating smug look on his face, and the bearded man laughed derisively.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he muttered, throwing his hands in the air and taking a step back. The blonde woman and the third man had joined them, so Clarke now stood facing the entire crew.

“New neighbors giving you trouble already, Bellamy?” the third man joked.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” the curly haired man replied lightly and turned back to Clarke, extending his hand again. “Like I was saying, my name’s Bellamy Blake, and I'm very sorry for overstepping. I promise it was completely unintentional. I should have introduced myself earlier, anyway.”

Clarke felt her face grow slightly flushed, but she stuck her chin up and grasped Bellamy’s hand. “I’m Clarke Griffin. I’m sorry for coming on so strong, I just get a little wary of strangers.”

Bellamy dropped her hand gently and took a dramatic step back. “Understood, Clarke. I’m sorry we met under such circumstances.”

Clarke couldn't help but smirk at his forced gravity. She noticed that the bearded man just rolled his eyes, and the other two exchanged an amused glance.

“No, it’s alright. I can show you the deed to my house, if you like, it’s got the property line very clearly delineated—“

“That’s really not necessary,” Bellamy chuckled, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

“Anyway,” Clarke continued to the group in general. “We’re very glad that someone is finally taking the time to turn this place around, it’s been a real eyesore to say the least.”

“Always happy to help gentrify a neighborhood,” said the third man with pleasant sarcasm.

“That’s Murphy, and you can just ignore him usually,” the blonde woman interjected. “I’m Harper, and this is Miller.” The bearded man raised a hand in greeting, and his expression seemed to have softened a little.

“Are you all going to be living here?” Clarke asked. It was a large house, and it could certainly have been turned into multiple apartments. Not to presume what their relationships to each other were, of course.

“Hell no,” Miller replied. “This is Blake’s place. We’re just his humble employees on this one.”

Bellamy rolled his eyes. “What he means is, they all work with me flipping houses, but this one I’m thinking about keeping.” He glanced at Clarke and shrugged casually. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Well, it’s a great neighborhood, for the record,” Clarke replied, “Despite the impression I may have just given you. I’ve lived here with my daughter for six years, and all the neighbors are generally pretty welcoming. People here are friendly and look out for each other. I hope you decide to stay.”

Bellamy seemed surprised, but pleased, by this addition. “Thanks, that is very welcoming. First impression corrected, don't worry.” He grinned.

Clarke shook her head but smiled, then checked her watch. “I’ve got to get going, I have to drop Madi off at school before work today.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Clarke Griffin,” Bellamy replied, crouching to retrieved his abandoned glove. "If you need anything, we'll be just next door." He squinted up at her in the sunlight, and she suddenly noticed how very attractive he was: broad shoulders, strong arms, and a face covered in freckles. Not the neighbor she would have expected to move into an old abandoned house on her block, but she didn't have any complaints.

“Nice to meet you all, too. Good luck with everything.”

“Thanks, see you around,” Harper smiled. The other two nodded in acknowledgment and quickly returned to work.

—

“Madi just went upstairs to finish getting ready…How’d it go?” asked Raven, when Clarke had returned to the kitchen.

“Fine,” Clarke replied, her mouth drawn in a tight line. “It was an honest mistake. Won’t happen again.”

“Did you find out if they’re flipping the house or not?” The whole neighborhood had been speculating ever since the years old for sale sign had come down earlier that spring.

“Maybe,” Clarke replied, taking a sip of her (now cold) coffee. “They all work together to flip houses, apparently, but one of them might end up keeping this one. He’s not sure.”

“Well, it’d be nice to have a new neighbor, I guess. Especially a handy one.”

“What do you mean? You live next door and you’re very handy.”

“Yeah, I know, and I’m tired of you asking me to fix things all the time,” Raven teased.

Clarke chucked. “Nah, you love it.”

“Most days. I’ve got to feed the dogs and head to the shop, Emori says we’ve had five customers already today. Oh, by the way, Roan’s got this crazy art project going on in the dining room right now, you mind if we do dinner here on Wednesday?”

“That’s fine, I’ll text Jasper and the others to let them know.”

“Great, thanks!” Raven called on her way out the door. “See you later, babe!”

Clarke grabbed her purse from the table and walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Madi! You ready? We can’t be late, you have that biology exam today and I have a meeting at the hospital in an hour.”

“I’m ready,” Madi called as she trudged down the stairs. She had pulled her long dark hair back into a ponytail and put her school uniform on. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but for some reason it hit Clarke harder than usual to see how much her daughter had grown up lately. She had a growth spurt recently and she suddenly looked much older.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Madi grimaced, “Let’s gooooo.”

Clarke smiled and pulled herself together. “Alright, alright. You ready for your test?”

Madi shrugged, “Yeah, ready as I’ll ever be.”

Clarke almost reminded her daughter that she had offered to help her study the night before, but wisely bit her tongue instead. Madi was almost fourteen now, and she had to let her make her own decisions sometimes. She didn't do a half bad job, either, Clarke considered, as she ushered her daughter out the door. She was a smart kid, and she cared, though she was at that age where she tried not to let on for either of these things.

Bellamy and his crew were still working in the side yard when Clarke and Madi exited the house. Harper and Bellamy both raised their hands to wave at them as the Griffin girls hopped into Clarke’s car.

“Did you talk to the new neighbors?” asked Madi, not looking up from her Nintendo.

“Yes, they backed off the garden,” Clarke replied. “They might end up selling the house, though, after it’s finished.”

“At least next door won’t be so ugly anymore.”

 _Nope_ , thought Clarke. _Not ugly at all_.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr!](https://tracylorde.tumblr.com)


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